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A bitter political fight for a seat on FIFA's powerful executive committee, involving claims of vote buying and perceived threats of violence, will be resolved this week by an Asian Football Confederation vote.
Both the executive committee seat and presidency of the AFC will be at stake when members choose between 13-year incumbent and AFC chief Mohamed bin Hammam of Qatar and his challenger Shaikh Salman bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa of Bahrain - former friends who have become bitter rivals.
The lead-up to the vote has involved politics at its most ruthless and open, prompting a formal interjection by FIFA president Sepp Blatter and exposing the bitter factional divisions within the vast 46 member nations Asian confederation, which stretches from the Arab states in the west, across to Japan in the east and down to Australia in the south.
The winner of the poll on Friday - coincidentally Bin Hammam's 60th birthday - will get the seat on FIFA's executive committee. Bin Hammam upped the stakes by saying he will also quit from his seven-year hold on the AFC presidency if he loses the vote.
Shaikh Salman has made his election-platform clear. "I want to bring about a bigger voice for Asia on the global platform and at the same time, I want change for Asian football," he said at a press conference at The Ritz Carlton Hotel in Kuala Lumpur.
'Asia for Change' is his motto - and while it may not have the same resonance as 'Yes, We Can' - he is happy to draw parallels between his campaign and Barack Obama's march to the White House last November.
He is 'very optimistic' of his chances and when asked about the AFC presidency, he said: "I don't want to be the president. It is up to the AFC family to choose the president
"The recent election campaign is a very strong signal that many in the AFC family are not happy.
"The voices of Asia must be heard. Asia is right now divided because of the growing unhappiness. There must be freedom of speech for the betterment of Asian football."
He emphasised on 'transparency' in every facet of Asian football management, something sorely lacking during the reign of Bin Hammam.
"What we want is for everyone, all associations, to have their say and to express their opinions with absolute freedom," said Shaikh Salman.
"We want to promote equality among member associations, transparency within the AFC organisation, with an emphasis on transparency in reporting AFC finances, and promoting unity for the development of Asian football."
Just a few months ago, Shaikh Salman was not very well-known outside the Gulf region, contented to serve in a relatively low profile role on the FIFA and AFC disciplinary committees, in addition to his duties with his national association.
In the recent lead-up to Friday's crucial elections, Shaikh Salman bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa has been flying back and forth across the region, visiting more than 20 countries, who believes it is time for 'Asia For Change'.
A visit to play in Bahrain by Gulf Air-sponsored Queens Park Rangers, the English Championship side from London, was cancelled because Bahrain Football Association officials in the kingdom were concentrating on the AFC issue.
Shaikh Salman added: "I am confident of the democratic process of the AFC Congress. More so, I am more assured of my ability and my chances are better than my opponent in the battle for several reasons.
"I did not prevent any of the Asian members from voting, I did not create laws to try and prevent others who have the right to vote from doing so, I did not interfere in the affairs of others.
"So let us now focus on the battle and see what we can sincerely do for the betterment of Asian football."
Bin Hammam had pushed for the AFC and FIFA jobs to be more closely linked. He had campaigned for the AFC president to automatically be appointed as a vice-president of FIFA's executive committee. He said that was at the urging of FIFA, to bring Asia in line with the other continental confederations.
Currently Bin Hammam is a member of the executive committee, sitting below South Korean Chung Mong-joon, who is a FIFA vice-president, though the Qatari outranks the Korean within the AFC.
The consequent rivalry between Bin Hammam and Chung was thought to be the source of the heat in this election campaign. Bin Hammam believes Hyundai scion Chung is orchestrating Shaikh Salman's election campaign, with the Bahraini considered as a proxy for the East Asian lobby in the longstanding divide between the two sides of the giant confederation.
The vote is the most public skirmish in a decades-long rivalry between Bin Hammam and Chung, with football's highest office as the prize.
"Chung and myself have never enjoyed a good relationship in the 20 years or so since I came to the AFC," Bin Hammam said. "The second thing is that Chung is trying to contest for FIFA presidency ... and he thinks that I am not going to support him, which is absolutely right."
The enmity between the AFC chief and Korean officialdom was made plain when Bin Hammam said in a Qatari TV interview early in the campaign that he would cut the head of Korean FA president Cho Chung-yeon.
While Bin Hammam told the Associated Press that this was merely an Arabic metaphor similar to the English saying 'heads will roll', that was not enough to placate the Korean Football Association, which referred the comment to FIFA's ethics committee.
However, that spat was a sideshow to more serious accusations of vote buying on behalf of Shaikh Salman.
Bin Hammam claimed the Olympic Council of Asia was offering financial inducements in the form of grants to those nations who cast their vote for Shaikh Salman.
He made the comments in an interview for Australia's SBS television network, whose football analyst Les Murray - a member of FIFA's ethics panel - officially reported the accusation, saying he had uncovered evidence to support's Bin Hammam's allegation.
The OCA responded by threatening legal action, while Shaikh Salman also refuted the claims.
Shaikh Salman was bullish about his chances of unseating Bin Hammam. Apart from support in the east, he is thought to have pulled the support of the other shaikhs in the west away from Bin Hammam.
